Aftermath
by Ayoungnovelist
Summary: What happened after Toby got knocked out in the woods, and was left with the lighter.


He desperately tried not to blink; he tried to take in all of his surroundings. But he couldn't. His mind was focused on one thing, on one person. On Spencer Hastings. He tried not to think it was his fault she was in the fire. But, how could he remember. Someone had knocked him out, with presumable a shovel or hockey stick. He tried not to blink, and tried not to think, because if he did he knew he would fail to do his duty. All he could do was look around him, searching for people, and not to let his mind wonder. He knew he would fall to the ground once again. His head was spinning, and his ankle was heavy. He had slowly managed to get up, and then trod on some sort of metal. He bent down, and picked it up. It was a lighter, a printed compass on the gold background. He turned it over in his hand. Did it have a meaning? Of course it does, there is no coincidences in Rosewood. Toby learned that a long time ago.

He then remembered a route he took once while on a mission that he had to do. Like all of the others. He had seen a signpost, while on his motorcycle. It had a compass right at the bottom of the signpost. It was collecting dust atop of it, but he decided to leave it. It was nothing, and it was nothing until he had seen the lighter.

Soon enough he was distracted by a large flame emitting from the cabin opposite him. His mind flicked back to Spencer. Was she in there? Were her friends in there? He couldn't save them, he knew someone else would. Someone that the rest of the team thought was evil, but they haven't seen the other. There are two red coats. One is Courtney, Alison's twin, she's the one destroying their lives, and mine. The other Alison, the one, which is protecting the girls, and almost saving them. He knows he has to run, and so he does, but soon, his energy is drained. He can only walk, and is in sight of the helicopter. He walks, and he stumbled to the ground, dropping the lighter in the dark. He scrambles to his feet, absent-mindedly forgetting about the lighter. His only aim to get up, and go along with the plan. He is a few meters away when he hears footsteps. He turns his head, but still walks on, knowing that whoever that is, won't be someone safe. He sees someone in a black hoodie, holding the lighter which had an innocent flame getting bigger and bigger. The figure walks away, until she is not in sight, and by that time. He's already at the helicopter, and holding on to it for support. He turns around when he can smell some burning. And he knows what burning nonetheless. The trees are ablaze; colors of orange and yellow are surrounding him. No clean air, and his only escape the helicopter, but nothing to start it.

He gets his pocketknife out, and Spencer's bobby pin she gave him. He climbs in, and shuts the door, not letting in anymore-poisoned air get in. He put the bobby pin in, and a utility from his knife. He fiddles with it, and works with it until he can hear the roar of the engine start up. He pressed a button to make him hover, and then directed it with as much hope as he could muster.

The helicopter dropped slowly to the ground, and landed with a loud thud. He knew he had overworked it, and pressed to many buttons. He got out, but with the weight of his ankle he could only jump, once he had opened the door. He jumped out, as flames arose from the object. He rolled over, and started a coughing fit from the smoke he had just breathed into his lungs. The fire blazed, and soon he could ear footsteps. He didn't look up, he was holding his ankle in pain.

"Toby, what happened?" Spencer's angelic voice rang out, as the footsteps quickened. She sat beside him, with worry on her face, as she saw tears welling up in his eyes. He was trying to stay strong, she knew that. He took a deep breath, but it resulted into another coughing fit. "Toby, are you alright?" Emily sat down next to him as well, rubbing his back. He shook his head.

"I was knocked out, and I woke up with a lighter beside me. I stood up, and then fell over. I walked to the helicopter, and then the forest was on fire. I managed to direct the thing back to here, I jumped out, and now it's on fire." He managed to choke out. He wheezed, as he breathed in, trying to dismiss the pain of his ankle. He tried to get up, but he collapsed on the ground. Spencer and Emily got up, and helped him get up. His ankle was weak, and he couldn't walk properly on it. He hobbled to Spencer's car, and leant on it.

"Are you okay?" Spencer asked, once again. No noise could be heard apart from the cracking, flickering, and sparkling of flames.

"My head is killing me, and I think my ankle's broken." He replied back, and his voice full of weakness. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and tried to inspect his ankle in the dark. He could see it was an abnormally large, and that was all he could see.

"Let's get you to the hospital!" Emily said. She was shaking so much, and she could barely breath, and as he looks around. Aria, Hanna and Mona are like that too.

"What happened?" He asked. The girls all became quiet, and looked down at the ground. "Spencer, what happened?" He asks again, and Spencer looks up. Her eyes are full of emotions he can't read. He pulls her closer, and she leans into him. She swallows, and starts speaking.

"We opened the boot of Wilden's car, and we found a tied up bodies. It was the private investigator I hired, and Cece. They had gags in their mouths, and we… I checked for pulses. Cece's alive, but the PI is dead. I guess he knew too much when he was following you." He could see she was disgusted by the idea of anybody killing anybody, and so was I. Even though I was on the same team with people who thought murdering was fun. He kissed her forehead. "Have you ever killed anybody? As a mission." He was taken aback by her question, but he knew she would ask it sometime.

"No, I haven't." Toby simply replied, telling the truth.


End file.
